The present invention relates to a method for simulating and representing the processing of a workpiece by a tool, such as a boring or milling tool, and to an apparatus for practicing the method.
From the technology of so-called computer aided design (CAD), it is a known practice to represent bodies in perspective on the picture screen of a computer unit. In such systems, contours or changes in the model are input interactively by the user.
German patent publication DE-Al-34 01 060 discloses a method for the graphic representation of simulated workpiece processing. In the publication, the image of the workpiece being processed arises successively through the continuous superposing of changing workpiece polygons with processing polygons corresponding to the tool and its path. These polygons are hierarchically ordered and are linked. Detailed information about the types of linkages and the formation of resulting contours for the case in which the polygons do not intersect are not disclosed in the publication.